TAMARACK: Solman shakes nerves, takes Tamarack title

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This article was published 29/08/2021 (1882 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASAGAMING — If the magnitude of the moment didn’t hit Derek Solman in the hours leading up to the Tamarack golf tournament men’s final, the massive gallery surrounding the first tee made it clear.

This was the biggest match he’s ever played.

He shanked his first approach and Jarod Crane surgically birdied the first hole. Then Crane won the second with a par. It appeared to be a blowout in the making.

For the next five hours, however, Solman matched the 2013 champ shot for shot and found the resolve he needed in the biggest moment. With one delicate, pressure-packed pitch to five feet on the 18th green, the 27-year-old sealed the 88th annual Tamarack title 2 up.

“It feels pretty good. When you go up against tough competition all week long it feels good to finish everything else and hit it well the way I did,” Solman said.

“I was a little more nervous, kind of antsy waiting around all morning, a little bit of a delay on the tee. The nerves were a little higher for the first couple of holes and I definitely felt it. Things kind of started to calm down. After I got calmed down I started hitting it better.”

“… I haven’t had too many wins at all really, so this is up there.”

Solman qualified with a 1-over 73 last weekend, when Sunday’s second round was cancelled due to heavy rainfall. The No. 9 seed cruised past Travis Clarke 4 and 3, edged medallist Josh McPhail 1 up and downed four-time champ Jared Jacobson 4 and 3 with seven birdies in 15 holes on Friday.

Solman nearly let the final get completely out of hand, though. He came up well short with his birdie bid on the third hole but found the bottom of the cup for the first time with his par save. He rolled a tester for par in on the fourth, then got a break as Crane bogeyed the par-3 sixth to cut the lead in half.

After Crane drove the eighth green, Solman chipped his to six feet and pounced on a rare Crane three-putt, making birdie to tie the match.

They tied the ninth with bogeys, then Solman conquered his nemesis 10th hole to tie with par.

He stuffed his approach and birdied the 11th to take his first lead of the day, realizing how important it was to not get rattled by the start.

“I just kind of relaxed, focused on one shot at a time, just pick a target, hit it, try to hit greens, fairways and keep doing that,” he said.

They traded a few holes as Crane tied it on 12 and Solman birdied 13 with a smooth up and down from a green-side bunker. Crane hit the shot of the day with his blind approach on the 15th, sticking it within a foot of the back-left pin for birdie and a tie with three holes to go.

Solman found another bunker on 16, but made more sand magic as he curled in a 13-footer for birdie to go 1 up. They halved the 17th and headed to the final hole.

The nerves came back. The lefty sliced his tee shot into the trees and it took about eight seconds to finally fall to the ground below.

Unthinkably, Crane traced nearly the same line with a hook about 20 yards behind.

“That was the one shot I missed all day,” Crane said. “I said to (caddie) Jordan (Ludwig) after I hit it ‘That actually felt good. I’m not sure why it hooked left.’ To follow him in there, that was stupid.”

They both punched out, though Crane was 50 yards out and Solman made it to just a few yards off the front of the green. Crane hit his 25 feet past the pin and Solman hit the perfect pitch to five feet. When Crane’s par save slid by, he knew it was over. Solman picked up his marker and hoisted the trophy.

“I was ready to hit it but deep down it takes away the pressure,” Solman said with a grin. “I knew I just had to tie him on 18 so that’s all that was going through my head after chipping out of the trees there.

“It was a good week for sure, pretty excited about the win here. Feels good.”

Crane felt he could have put the match away earlier if his putter was on, but tipped his cap to the youngster for sticking around and pulling away.

“He’s a great player. I got lucky to play with him (Friday) to see him play really well,” Crane said. “Super nice guy, great player and I’m happy for him to win.”

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